Facebook-owned Oculus has announced a partnership with Xiaomi and will launch a new standalone Mi VR headset powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 mobile VR platform. Oculus said Xiaomi, which is known for its smartphones in India, will also be the company’s hardware partner for the launch of Oculus Go headset. Xiaomi is well know for its mobiles, but in China it has a wider range of products from electric cycles to pens to laptops as well as VR products.
Xiaomi’s current Mi VR 2 Play headset is also available in India at a price of Rs 1299. The current Mi VR 2 Play headset however, supports both Android and iOS smartphones and works with devices with a screen size between 4.7 to 5.7-inches. According to Oculus’ announcement, there will be two headsets: the Oculus Go, which is a standalone VR headset and Xiaomi is the hardware partner for this. The second is the Mi VR headset with Xiaomi’s branding. Both will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 mobile VR platform.
According to Oculus, both the Mi VR Standalone and Oculus Go headset will share the same core hardware features and design. Mi VR headset will also support Oculus Mobile SDK, and it will allow Oculus developers to easily bring their content to the Mi VR platform in China. Xiaomi will also work with Oculus developers to localise some of the most popular content from the Oculus Store for the China market.
The partnership between Oculus and Xiaomi should not come as a surprise. Facebook’s VP of VR is Hugo Barra, who was previously Xiaomi’s Global Vice President. It could also help Facebook make an entry into China with VR. Oculus has so far not confirmed a date for when the Oculus Go headset will launch. Currently, the Oculus platform also powers the VR experience on Samsung’s Gear VR headsets.
In Oculus’ case, “Standalone” is a new category aimed at bringing and will ensure the device can work without a cable or mobile phone. This is a new phase of VR hardware, according to Oculus. The company has in the past said that Oculus Go will start at $199 and shipping is supposed to begin this year.
Oculus will also rely on a new fabric to keep the headset super light and convenient. It will also include a high resolution fast-switch LCD screen and a wide field of view with reduced glare on the lenses. Oculus Go headset will have integrated spatial audio with the speakers being a part of the headset. There will be a 3.5mm headphone jack as well.
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